Isaac Roop

Isaac Newton Roop (March 13, 1822 – February 14, 1869) was an American politician, pioneer, and member of the Whig Party. In 1859, he was the first elected (provisional) governor of the newly-proposed Nevada Territory.

Isaac Roop
Provisional Governor of the Proposed Territory of Nevada
In office
December 15, 1859 – March 2, 1861
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byJames W. Nye (as Territorial Governor)
Personal details
Born(1822-03-13)March 13, 1822
Carroll County, Maryland, U.S.
DiedFebruary 14, 1869(1869-02-14) (aged 46)
Susanville, California, U.S.
Resting placeSusanville Cemetery
Political partyWhig
SpouseNancy (nee Gardner) Roop
Children3
RelativesSusan Roop
OccupationFarmer, trader, politician
Known forEarly settler of Susanville, California

Early life

Roop was born in Carroll County, Maryland.[1]

Career

In 1851, the guide William Nobles started taking settlers, including the 29-year-old Isaac Roop and his family, over a route through the Sierra Nevada passing through the Honey Lake valley. Roop's first three years in California were spent in Shasta County in farming and trading. During that period, he also held the positions of postmaster and school commissioner. He had accumulated in that time upwards of $15,000 (~$393,692 in 2021) worth of property but in June 1853 lost it all by fire. It was then that Roop retreated to the Sierra Nevada and to Honey Lake, where he concentrated on his own backcountry holdings and nearly single-handedly erected the burg of Rooptown, which he would later name for his daughter Susan.

In September 1859, Roop was elected the first territorial governor of the proposed Nevada Territory. At the time, Susanville was thought to be in Nevada. instead of California. The new provisional government first convened on December 15, 1859, in the town of Genoa. Roop lived in the contested County of Roop. He was elected in 1861 to the new Nevada Territorial Senate.[2]

After the county's dissolution in 1865, Roop returned to Susanville. Roop became Lassen County's district attorney for two terms.

Personal life

On December 24, 1840, Roop married Nancy Gardner, his tutor. They had children: John, Isaiah, and Susan. On June 20, 1850, Nancy died of typhoid fever.

Isaac Roop died in Susanville on February 14, 1869.[3] His daughter Susan Arnold resided in the town as well until her own death in 1921, and both were buried in the town's cemetery.[1] There is a mural depicting father and daughter in Uptown Susanville on the outside wall of Johnson's Shoes.

Roop County, Nevada, was named after him.[4]

References
  1. Bruce, A. T. (1869). "Isaac Roop". Lassen Sagebrush. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  2. "Isaac Roop". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  3. "Isaac Roop". Lassen County, California GenWeb Project. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  4. "Creation of Nevada's Counties". Nevada Association of Counties. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.

Further reading
  • Butler, James Thomas (1994). Isaac Roop, Pioneer & Political Leader of Northeastern California. Susanville (California): High Desert Press. ISBN 0-936029-40-4.


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